Galaxy Force may be over but Hasbro are continuing the Cybertron line and
producing new repaints and figures such as Cybertron Excellion. Takara
released the extremely rare Excellion (With DVD) which was a repainted
version of Cybertron HotShot but in G1 Hotrod colors.

The figure was a homage to the Generation One figure Hotrod but was an
exclusive and this made him hard to get and worth a lot of money. Hasbro
choose to release their version of Takara's Excellion by releasing the
figure in almost identical color schemes but with a small few changes in
places. One difference is the fact that on Hasbro's version of the character
the vehicle mode has "flames" on the front section while the Takara version
has not. Another difference is that the Takara version has red feet and
wheels while the Hasbro version has both black feet and wheels.

Excellion looks amazing in robot mode and really gives off the whole G1
Hotrod look and appeal. The figure is painted in the same style and color
scheme as the classic G1 character as well. Another great feature for the
figure is that once the "Planet Key" is placed into the holster then two
light clear blue type wings slide out and make the figure look even more G1
Hotrod looking.

The character is able to bend the knee sections and the elbow sections which
is always an added bonus as not every Transformer fan is a huge fan of the
so-called "Brick Transformers" and the fact that Excellion can bend all his
knee and elbow joints means that he can be placed in various poses and
positions. The only downside is that the figure seems to be missing the
option of moving his waist area but considering how good the figures robot
mode is otherwise then you can forgive that.

Another slight problem with the robot mode is that when in robot mode the
front window section of the vehicle mode hangs downwards from the robots
back. It is hardly noticeable but sometimes it can get in the way when
trying to pose the figure.

Excellion comes with the same accessories that Cybertron Hotshot came with,
basically his Planet Key and also Excellion's gun and missile. Excellion is
able to hold the gun in both hands and also the hands section has exhaust
looking sections hidden behind the side door which are actually used in the
same way that G1 HotRod's arm lasers work.

Vehicle mode looks good and has the flames on the front section of the car
just like how G1 Hotrod had, the Takara version doesn't have these flames
and instead has small patches colored orange. The Planet Key can also be
activated in vehicle mode which again reveals the light clear blue
fins/wings which give the look of the original G1 HotRod's vehicle mode. The
wheels for the Hasbro version were painted black while the much rarer Takara
versions are red. There's a small Autobot symbol on the front of vehicle
mode and if you look threw the windscreen in vehicle mode you can also see
small seats and a dashboard.

Cybertron Excellion came packaged in the standard 'Deluxe' packaging just
like his original release - HotShot- was as with all the other 'Deluxe' line
figures. The figure came packaged MOSC and on the back the character was
shown in both vehicle and robot mode. Since Hotshot already gets upgraded in
the cartoon show to Defense-Hotshot then the characters Bio was changed as
to make him a completely new character (Excellion was a Non-Show cartoon
character) which made him out to be more of a loner rather than an actual
Autobot. Excellion came with his instructions and maybe if you were lucky
you could get your hands on one with a free DVD which was basically just an
episode of Cybertron.

A fantastic repaint and serious credit has to go to Hasbro for releasing
this figure. Takara released this figure and he was an exclusive which made
him hard to get and worth a lot of cash. Thanks to Hasbro however for
releasing this fantastic figure in the Cybertron line as it means it gives
all Transformer fans a chance to own such a great repaint without having to
spend a small fortune.